Camp Cheif Hector
by shadow kitty
Summary: Alright, Tamers are at an overnight camp in the Canadian Rockies, my favoured place of residence. They've no shortage of adventures, and of course, there's the other kids at camp to condend with... (If you've been to CCH suggestions are wonderful)


shadow kitty: Okey, here's the scoop. I dumped the Tamers at Camp Chief Hector (my favorite second home) for two weeks. It's an over night camp on the edge of the Canadian Rockies and the foot hills. Any other pioneers out there? Raise da roof! Onwards... all of them are in the horse back climbing option I have just invented, it should exist. They are all 15 as of NOW and, yea…

**EDIT**  
shadow: I was flipping through old fiction and found this, and was appalled at the writing. I'm going to edit it and finish it, I miss camp, and the ridiculousness of this fic, so if any of my reviewers are still out there I apologize for the delay and thank you for still being here. Let's finish this!

---

Day 1: Arrival

Rika unloaded her sleeping bag from the brand new purple duffle bag her mother had purchased specially for the trip. While Rika had to admit that the idea of her mother in an outdoors store had never once crossed her mind, the experience of buying all the gear required had been bizarre, to say the least. She, her mother, and her grandmother had spent the past three weeks preparing Rika for the overnight camp they'd been flown out to in the Canadian Rockies. Really, the blame for this scheme could be squarely placed on the shoulders of Takato's mother.

Months after the destruction of the D-Reaper, Mrs. Matsuki had called the parents of the other Tamers with a brilliant idea. She had just gotten off the phone with one of her childhood friends - whose husband had been relocated to an oil town in the prairies for work – and who was sending her son Ken to an overnight camp in the mountains nearby. Mrs. Matsuki was thrilled at the prospective fun her friend's son was supposed to have at said camp, and promptly decided that the Tamers should be given the opportunity to go. "They had enough on their plates with school and saving the world that they deserved the chance to be children!" She had argued so loudly that Rika could hear her voice over the phone from across the room.

That had been the beginning. The end result was many group trips to buy backpacks, sleeping bags, duffle bags, rain jackets, rain pants, rubber boots, ground mats, sleeping pads, water bottles, sun screen, bug spray, warm gloves, toques… the list went on and on. Then there had been the plane tickets. Some of the Tamers had flown together, direct to Canada. Others had gone on reward points and been routed half way around the globe and back before they made it to their camping destination, and had navigated airports such as Heathrow, Nairobi, Hong Kong and Nairobi on their own or in pairs. Finally, they had all met at the vans that camp sent to the airport every two weeks to pick up new campers, and slept fitfully on the drive to this mythical place they'd heard of called Camp Chief Hector.

The press of other children when they'd finally unloaded from the vans was incredible, it reminded Rika strongly and unpleasantly of the subways in Japan. Some of the younger children - no more than 8 or 9 years old – were sleepily rubbing their eyes and calling names that the Tamers didn't recognize, evidently trying to get their hands on their duffles. Rika starred as the children's luggage was thrown to them from the little trailer their van had been pulling, and these wiry little kids commenced dragging, pulling, hauling, and double-teaming their bags to wherever they were directed. Most of the children could have fit quite comfortably inside the bags they were moving. The sight was comical, and Rika couldn't help but stare.

There were at least two staff members for each van, one to unload luggage, and one to direct campers. The fellow who had been driving their van was a large, round, bearded fellow with a shiny bald head. The wood cookie nametag around his neck read 'Roo'. It seemed like no time at all had passed when he began to call the Tamer's names. "Rika Nonaka! Jeri Katou!"

"Here!" Jeri called, trying to make herself heard over the noise.

Roo picked them out of the crowd of now mostly older kids with his sharp little brown eyes. He smiled and they crinkled at the sides. "You girls are with Margot and Kelly in Yahaitinda; head for the girl with the blonde dreadlocks."

Jeri glanced uneasily at Rika. Dreadlocks? Did respectable people in this country really have dreadlocks? Did respectable _female_ people in this country have dreadlocks? Rika spread her hands slightly at her sides in a subtle gesture of 'I don't know!' The girls retrieved their bags. Jeri's a second hand rolling bag from her grandmother, and Rika's new purple duffle. The counsellor with the dreadlocks was easy to pick out of the crowd, but both girls were surprised at how little she stuck out from her peers. Most of the people who looked like they were supposed to be in charge of them for the week had rope wrapped around their wrists as bracelets, wooden earrings hanging from their ears, multiple piercings, sandals, woven jewellery from some sort of earthy looking string… they looked like a bunch of hippies.

Jeri took a deep breath and then broke out into a gigantic grin. "This is going to be fun!"

Rika stared. "… are you saying that to convince yourself, or me?" She asked incredulously in Japanese. Jeri grinned harder and didn't answer. Rika looked back over at their guardians for the next two weeks, and hoped she would have at least as much fun as the adults had promised.

---

Surprisingly, it hadn't actually taken that much time for the girls to really take to their new counselors. Kelly - the taller one with the blonde dreadlocks – had immediately said 'hello' and helped them get their bags to their new home. The new home was a tall, tanned tipi with five metal framed bunk beds arranged in a circle around an iron fire pit. The floor was made of wood, and the edges had been worn soft by time and hundreds of feet. Around the fire pit was a ring of smallish stones, with larger rocks thrown in for good measure. Kelly set them up with their bunks, and then went to go see if her co-counselor, Margot, had found any of their other campers. There were only two other empty bunks, so in theory they wouldn't have to wait very long.

Rika hefted her duffle behind her bunk and began to unpack her sleeping bag and pillow, keeping an eye on the girls who were in the tipi. Her bunk was directly to the left of the door, on the bottom. On the other side of the door, which was really more of a flap of canvas with a wooden pole running through the end to keep it weighted down, Jeri was arranging her shoes underneath her bed.

To Jeri's right on the next bottom bunk over was a girl who Rika had heard her tipimates refer to as Reyna. She had a long, dirty blonde ponytail that had been doubled back on itself to make a loopy bun. Her eyes were light, some shade between green and blue. Her hoody was a bright yellow that contrasted sharply to her green shorts, she caught Rika staring and waved, sparring one hand from its duty of tying the laces of her grey and blue runners. Rika smiled and gave a little wave, Reyna was clearly someone who was at home in this outdoor setting. Her freckles stood out against her light complexion.

On the bunk above Reyna, a girl named Meiko was busily pushing her long brown hair out of her blue eyes as she wrote in a notebook. She was slim, tiny and neat. She and Reyna had arrived together, and they were like looking at opposite sides of the same coin. Where Reyna was athletic, Meiko was delicate; where Reyna had a smile on her face, Meiko had a sarcastic grin. Meiko's blue zip-up and khaki peddle pushers would have looked less out of place in a city park, but they weren't necessarily out of place here either.

Another addition to their tipi was Ami. Amy had short, honey brown and blonde hair that stuck out at the back and sides. Rika was reminded of a scruffy, puppy every time she caught a glimpse of Ami's jerky, excited movement and dark, green and brown eyes. Her green camp logo T-shirt was cut to fit her with just a little extra room, and everything about her was long and lean. As she unpacked, Rika saw her periodically pause to add a note or two to a little black book that was open on the top of the large plastic tub she had everything packed in. Her bunk was next to Meiko, facing the tipi flap across the fire pit.

Margot burst into the tipi, all smiles. "Hello girlies!" She grinned, skipping around the fire pit and throwing herself onto the bunk underneath Ami's. "How's the unpacking?" Ami and Reyna were quick to pick up the opening for a conversation with their counselor. Margot was short, perhaps as tall as Meiko, with chestnut hair that fell to her hips in long waves. She was by no means over weight, but Margot had curves and an infectious smile to go with her dark brown eyes. Her Birkenstock sandals poked out from under the frayed hems of her pale jeans, and she had a pair of aviators perched lazily on the top of her head.

The bunk next to Margot's was Kelly's, their taller, dreadlocked, other counselor. Both of the guardians struck Rika as exceptionally outgoing. She wondered if their energy would last the entire two weeks. Above Kelly and to Ami's right was a vain looking girl in a short denim skirt. She was tall, very slim, and had platinum, bone-straight hair to match her green eyes. Absently, it occurred to Rika that this girl looked like something out of a teen magazine. Her hair was carefully parted to the side with a butterfly clip, and her tank top left little to be wanted as far as determining her exact shape. Glamorous, was the word Rika had been looking for and couldn't place, this girl was glamorous, and it was strange to see it in a tipi on an old, paint-peeling metal bunk bed. She snapped her gum loudly and Ami rolled her eyes. "Sheila, cut it out already. You're driving me nuts." Sheila rolled her eyes in response and flipped to the next page of her magazine.

Only the bunks above Rika and Jeri had been left empty, and it wasn't until nearly fifteen minutes later, when even Jeri and Rika had finished unpacking that Kelly turned up with the other members of their tipi. Kelly swooped through the door in a flurry of swinging dreads and energy. She spun in a circle and tossed one duffle onto the bunk above Rika and the other duffle onto the bunk above Jeri.

"Ta da!" She smiled, striking what she may have meant to be an epic pose. "We have a full tipi!"

Outside, Rika could hear their groups other two members. "Do… we go in now?" Asked a timid voice.

"Hells yes!" Squealed the other. Reyna winced on her bunk at the pitch of the second voice, could someone really be that high pitched naturally?

There was another swish as the tipi flap opened to admit the two most opposite girls Rika had encountered since herself and Jeri. Kathy was decked out in fluorescent pink from head to toe, from her flip flops to her Hello Kitty T-shirt. She was grinning from ear to ear, and even the elastics on her braces appeared to be a retina-burning pink. Her brown hair was pulled into two braided pig tails. "Hey Sheila!" She screamed in excitement as she bounced over. "I can't believe you beat me here! My mom was sooooooooooo slooooooooooow on the drive over, I thought we'd get here so late that I'd totally miss first lunch!"

Rika, Reyna, Meiko and Ami gaped at the new girl in shock. There were two of them. Two of them. It was like the gods were laughing at their little tomboy tipi. Jeri wasn't paying Kathy any attention in the slightest though, she was looking at the other girl who had been left holding the tipi flap. She was a soft framed girl with mousy brown hair pulled into a thin ponytail low on her neck. She gave off a distinctly awkward air, as if this was not the first time she'd been in a situation where she knew she did not fit in. Her glasses were large and round and her clothing looked as though it might be second hand.

Jeri smiled warmly and crawled across her bunk. "Hi, welcome to Yahaitinda." The girl flinched in surprise, and stared at Jeri. "The bunk above me is free." Jeri offered gently. "Would you like it?"

Finally, that got a shy smile out of her. "Sure, I'd like that." Jeri pointed her in the right direction, and then the girl introduced herself. "I – my name is Annie." She said quietly.

"I'm Jeri." Jeri smiled, her head cocked to the side.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Kathy trilled, taking notice of Annie from where she stood next to Sheila's bunk, Annie's grey eyes flicked around the tipi nervously. "Have you ever tried wearing your glasses on your head?" There was a long moment of silence in the tipi. "I mean like this!" She exclaimed quickly, trying to fill the silent void she'd created. She pointed to the tinted, large-lensed sunglasses that had been pushed up to sit on the top of her head.

The rest of the girls in the tipi turned their heads to look at Annie, whose glasses were most definitely prescription. Sheila eyed her critically. "Um… no?" Annie asked, confused. "They're prescription, so I wear them normally most of the time…"

"Oh?" Kathy responded. Rika realized that every time Kathy spoke, she ended her sentences on an upbeat. It sounded like she was asking a question. All the time.

"Girls!" Margo crowed, suddenly standing up and sticking her fist in the air like superman. "Group picture, in front of the tipi, now! C'mon! Let's get out there!"

Obediently the girls lined up outside and grinned. CLICK!

Margo's camera snapped its shutter closed, followed by Rika's, Ami's, Sheila's and Meiko's.

Just as the group started to return inside the tipi, five boys came flying through the underbrush. All of them breathing hard and looking for all the world like fugitives being chased.

"Ryo!"

"Rika!"

"Takato!"

"Jeri!"

"Kenta!"

Since all of the above had been said at roughly the same time, the ending result was something like "Ryukaterota!"

"Whoa whoa! Nobody wants to say hello to _me_!" Kazu cried in anguish. "I'm wounded!"

Henry stopped dead and stared at Rika and Jeri. "What are you doing here?" Over half of the tipi nearly fell over laughing at Henry's shocked expression, Sheila and the two counselors being the only exception. The blonde girl was carefully eyeing each male, as if she were preparing to give them a reenactment of the Spanish Inquisition.

"We got here on the same bus as you, idiot." Rika grinned despite herself, and crossed her arms.

"So, who's the one about to throw us to the grizzlies? Kinda spooky… " Kenta asked innocently. This caught Margo's attention, she was right in the thick of things. She introduced her tipi as a test of name-remembering, and then snapped to attention, barking 'at ease!' to the boys. Dumbfounded, they did exactly as told, standing at ease and giving their name, age and favourite food when prompted. The entire process was rather comical. Grinning ear to ear, she let herself laugh and the boys relaxed.

"Well, now that we all know each other, do you guys want to play camouflage with us?" Asked Ryo, clearly enjoying himself. "We've probably lost the game, but that's ok, I guess..." He shrugged.

"...but I think we'll live!" Kazu grinned, easily picking up where Ryo had left off, "Being in the presence of such lovely ladies, that is." He gave an exaggerated bow with his head bent low. His visor skimmed the ground.

"Hey Yamnuska! Where'd you go!?" A disembodied male voice called, "If you don't come back, I get your lunch portion!" Kazu's head snapped up, his visor now pointing in the direction the voice had come from like some sort of strange hunting dog.

Margo grinned. "You guys get Talon?"

"Yeah, he and Tom are our counselors." Henry supplied quickly, also looking in the direction the voice had come from.

Takato hopped from one foot to the other. "It's lunch he's calling, mind if we go?" Jeri smothered a giggle as Takato held off scampering long enough to say 'good bye'. Ryo raced after him, followed almost immediately by Henry, Kazu and Kenta. They were gone almost as abruptly as they'd arrived.

Jeri just shook her head. "Boys and their food."

"C'mon Yahaitinda." Margo said in the wake of silence left by the boys' exit. "If we want lunch, we need to get there quick."

---

About five minutes later, all the campers of Chief Hector had assembled in Hector lodge, and were eagerly awaiting their food. After a quick, lodge-shaking cheer that thanked the kitchen staff, food was served, and soon everyone but Sheila was wolfing down hotdogs. She took one look at the meat sitting in the bowl and decided there was '... too much grease on these things!' and was eating a tofu burger from the vegetarians menu. Ami just shrugged and rolled her eyes, and then had a rock paper scissors battle with Margot for the last hot dog in the bowl. Margot lost and Ami won with a jubilant shout of victory that was echoed by the others. Even Annie joined in as Margot admitted defeat and went to go refill their bowl at the kitchen.

---

After lunch, Yamnuska and Yahaitinda were both booked to hit the low ropes course. When Jeri asked what said course was, Kelly merely smiled as they joined the flood of campers leaving the lodge. "It is a place full of rope and wire, with the odd tire thrown in for good measure." She winked at Annie, smiled at Jeri, and went to go pick up her daypack.

It took a few minutes for the campers to all track down the backpacks they were to carry with them everywhere. Each pack filled with essential things that would come in handy in the often unpredictable realm of the Rockies. Rain jacket, rain pants, water bottle, sweater, mitts, sunglasses, bug spray and sun block were expected to be in the pack at any given time. As such they weren't heavy, and certainly weren't as full as the daypacks carried by the counselors, but it took time to find your pack when it was buried under 700 other daypacks on the porch of the lodge. Kelly flagged down Tom, who signaled Talon, who rounded up the boys and met up with Margot and the Yahaitinda girls at the mouth of the path around the back of the lodge.

"And we're off!" Tom yelled, throwing his arms in the air and skipping down the woodchip path.

Kelly smiled. "Come on girls! Keep up!" She turned and lunged into ridiculous, energetic skipping down the path after Tom. Ryo glanced sideways at the other kids and then burst into motion and mimicked his counselor. The boys of Yamnuska quickly caught on.

"We're following the leeeeeeeeeeeader! The leeeeeeeeeeeeeeader! The leeeeeeeeeeeader!" Talon screamed from the back of the group, also skipping.

"We're following the leeeeeeeeeeeeader! Wherever he may go!" The other boys screamed back.

Margot laughed and herded her stunned campers along. "Come on girls, we don't want to lose them!"

"This is _amazing!_"Ami cried, quickly running to catch up and join in. "Reyna! Meko! Let's go!"

They made it a fair ways skipping before Tom got tired. It was not quiet for long though, a game of natural disaster was started by none other then Talon, and of course, chaos was not far behind.

"Flash flood for 20! 19!..." His voice echoed around the forest, sending the campers into a frantic, mad dash for anything three feet off the ground.

The Tamers were utterly lost at the idea of this game, but were quick to copy those who were obviously returning campers and seemed to know what they were doing. Meiko, Ami, Reyna, as well as two boys named Dillon and Ben from the Yamnuska tipi scattered to the winds.

Dillon and Ami scampered up opposite sides of the tall, thin stump of a poplar tree. There wasn't enough room for both of them on the top, so they quickly compromised. Dillon leaped up and then reached down and hauled Ami up behind him. They made a very wobbly, very unstable looking suspended triangle as they grabbed hands and held each other up. Both of them were biting back grins as they swayed back and forth. It was while they wobbled rather precariously that Ami took a moment to look at who was helping hold her up. Dillon's hair was a short, burnt blonde with streaks of natural brown running through it, his eyes a pale grey that danced with mischief and excitement.

Takato, Kenta and Kazu were stacked on a tree limb, looking very proud of their spot and hoping they'd satisfied whatever requirements the game had. They resembled three very large, motley squirrels as they sat on their haunches and glanced this way and that, watching everybody else.

Meiko, Henry, Reyna and Ben had all claimed sections a large dead pine, Henry introduced his black haired partner in crime to the two girls, and they had no problems sharing their hideout. The very best though, would have been Rika and Ryo. Ryo had originally climbed up a big old pine, and then swung up side down to see how the others were doing. Typical of Ryo, he had not looked to see who was beneath him when he swung upside down. He collided with Rika as she reached for the next branch and knocked her clean out of the tree. "Ryo!" She howled, unimpressed and horrified to find herself flying backwards through the air.

Ryo groped behind him blindly and caught one of her wrists. The force of catching Rika was too much for him though, Ryo was pulled off the limb he'd been holding onto with his legs and they both fell straight down. Rika had swung out enough that she managed to miss the tree altogether and land with an epically loud 'THUMP!' on her butt in the wild rose bush beneath the tree. Ryo was not so lucky. He came down on the branch Rika had been standing on with his stomach, and there was a 'WOOSH!' as all the air rushed out of his lungs.

"AKIYAMA!" Rika cried as she struggled to stand up amidst the thorns. "I'm going to knock you stupid!" She added in Japanese, too frazzled to get the words out in English. Ryo's answer was a brief 'pah' as he tried to say something. Instead, he rotated around the branch and landed on his back on the path, utterly incapable of sound.

Ben smirked, "You're grace is lost on thy decent from yonder tree!" he called cheekily from his own perch on the log.

Ryo sucked in a loud breath of air and Rika yelled: "Oh, shut up!"

Dillon smiled. "He's just stunned silent by the glorious nature of his fall. I'm sure he'll snap out of it in a minute."

Annie giggled madly on her branch in the tree next to them, she had to hug the tree's trunk to stop herself from pitching forwards and falling off as well. Sheila and Kathy just looked at her, they'd taken a spot side-by-side on a large dead pine on the other side of the path from Henry, Ben, Reyna and Meiko's.

Once Ryo had caught his breath and razzed Ben and Dillon in return for their loving comments the groups continued on and managed to reach the low ropes course without further incident - which was a great accomplishment considering all those present. Upon their arrival at the low ropes course Margo and Kelly had decided it was their duty as counselors to pair up their hapless campers for spotting in mixed gender teams. Margo and Talon grinned.

"All right!" Kelly called. "I want two lines, girls here, guys here. Quick like bunnies!." The lines were formed as asked, and Margo went at it with vinegar...

"Jeri and Takato, you're on the tires! Kazu and Sheila, the ladder! Kenta and Annie, the wire with the rope! Ryo and Rika, the single wire! Ami and Dillon, you guys get the swinging log! Reyna and Ben, the fixed log! Ken and Meiko, the rope swings! …And lastly, Henry and Kathy on the stumps!"

Talon's partner Tom grinned. "She had this planned, correct?"

"Oh yeah, she had this way planned."

---

Over on the rope swings, Meiko had climbed up onto the pole that marked the beginning of each section. She looked down at her partner. "Ken, I'm not going to fall. There will be no need to you to catch me." Ken was an oriental boy, with smooth black hair coming down to his ears. He was immaculately clean, and dressed in a crisp grey T-shirt and shorts. He was taller than Meiko by an inch or two.

"Ok," He shrugged "I'm just doing what I was told." He smiled, and Meiko returned the gesture before she started. Their challenge was five rope swings with wooden seats hanging in a row from a wire over head. Like the other challenges on the course, the goal was to get from one side to the other without falling. Meiko's slim eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she swung wildly from side to side on the course. Ken back up and kept his hands up to spot, just as he'd been instructed. _She is going to knock me unconscious. _He thought to himself as he dodged her arm for the third time.

_Alright! Half way!_ Meiko cheered herself on as she reached the third swing. She had however, failed to notice the wet patch on the wood of the third swing. She planted her foot triumphantly on the swing, and triumphantly slipped with a surprised yelp.

"Hwaaaaaaah!"

Ken stepped forwards just in time, arms stretched forwards in an attempt to catch her head before it hit the ground. The two landed in a pile of limbs facedown beneath the swings, Meiko on top, with Ken's face pressed into the dirt.

Meiko jumped back and apologized profusely. "I'msosorryIdidn'tmeanttoIdon'tknowwhathappened!"

Ken twitched a little, and then grunted at her from the ground. "It's ok… my face caught me…"

---

Meanwhile, Kazu and Sheila were… sorting out their differences...

"Kazu! I am not letting you anywhere near me on this section!" Sheila growled. "Especially not when I'm wearing a skirt! _Why_ did Margo do this?" The challenge the pair had been given was simple, crawl across a ladder that bridged the gap between the start and finish courses. The ladder was shoulder height off the ground, and as such, Sheila's attire was mightily inappropriate. As she had no doubt realized.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before we left, princess." Kazu retorted with a snort of disdain. He crossed his arms and stared off to his right. This girl was starting to get really annoying, were all girls this stupid? He flicked his gaze over to Ben, and realized he'd been partnered with Reyna. _Why'd Ben get her as a partner while I'm stuck with this, flower! Damn him… she's totally kicking his ass too…_

After a contemplative moment of silence in Kazu's head, Sheila's whiny voice broke into his thoughts. "Were you even listening!?"

Kazu glanced at her casually, "No, there's no point in trying to untangle your language of whines, squeals and demands. So I'm not even bothering."

"What!?" She shrieked, sending a woodpecker from its perch nearby. From Kazu's point of view, she seemed to grow to about thrice her size. "What do you mean you weren't listening!? I'm not taking that for an answer, what did you say?"

"Um..." Kazu stared up at her and sweat dropped. He averted is eyes to the clouds, which were still a little gray and looked as if they might rain later. "...I'd say… looks like rain…"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sheila screamed.

---

Kenta and Annie were having a slightly better time, mostly because the two had significantly more in common than poor Kazu and Sheila.

"You want to go first?" Kenta asked.

"No, I prefer to watch and then just mimic." She responded quietly.

Kenta shrugged his shoulders, and clambered up onto the starting pole. He stepped out onto the wire and grasped the rope tightly in his hands, then made as if to take a brave step forwards along the wire. He hit the dirt before he knew he'd fallen.

Annie stared at him. "Wow. That was… cool…" She tried to smile encouragingly and ended up with something between a wince and a grimace instead.

"…uh… yeah…" Kenta smiled lamely as he rolled over. "That was absolutely done on purpose. You know… so that I could check to see you were really spotting me!"

She nodded, unconvinced. "Certainly, that's exactly what that looked like."

Kenta hopped to his feet and gestured at the wire. "I think you should try it."

Annie barked out a nervous laugh. "Who do you think I am, Houdini?"

Kenta's smile grew. "I don't know. Maybe you are, what's the 19th digit of pi?"

Annie rolled her eyes and stepped up onto the wire. "Eight."

---

Rika had managed to get half way across the wire before slipping, much to her dismay. Ryo took her place at the start calmly, and decided right then he was going to put on a show. "Watch the master." He smirked his trademark smirk and walked easily from one end to the other.

"Show off." Rika mumbled, "You can only do that because you were in the digital world for about half... your ... life..." her words trailed off into silence as Ryo started to cross the wire again, this time backwards. Next he was bunny hopping, and to top it off he back flipped into the center.

"Bet'cha can't do that pumpkin." He smiled, trying to contain his laughter. Just because she knew it would bug him - and to get even - Rika placed her foot beside his in the center of the wire. "Wait a sec..." Ryo figured it out moments before it happened; Rika lifted her foot sharply, causing Ryo to lose his balance and topple off.

"Heh, take that wonder boy." Rika let a smile cross her lips before fading back and leaning the on the pole. Ryo inched towards his water bottle. "Don't you dare..." She hissed menacingly.

He smirked again. "Oh, I think I'll take my chances." In one quick movement, he unscrewed the top and threw about a liter of water at the red-head. She managed to side step just in time, and only her right fell victim to his Nalgene.

"You rat!" She cried, and reached for her own bottle. Ryo turned tail and bolted up one of the poles. Rika turned, armed with her own Nalgene and caught sight of him up the pole like a treed cat. She couldn't help it, she broke down laughing; "Come down rat!" tears of mirth began running down her cheeks. "You look so funny perched up a post!"

"Uh uh," He shook his head vigorously, "not for an extra dessert helping will I come down!" It came out as a squeak, causing Rika to lose it again.

---

Meanwhile, Ami and Dillon were having their own problems.

"Wah!" Dillon yelped as he fell for about the eighth time in maybe five or so minutes.

"Dillon!" Ami sighed, letting her exasperation show. "Can I please try? Maybe you can pick it up if you see me do it." She looked at her new friend, who lay flat in the dirt.

"Fine." He grumbled, and accepted her hand in helping him up. "I think I split my spine in two."

Ami smiled, "No matter what, I refuse to pity you." She stepped up onto the swinging log and walked across without a problem. Grinning from ear to ear, she dismounted with a twist and a bow. "You can put your arms out and use them as counter weights if you want. Look straight ahead too, it'll help. Got it?"

"Uh... yeah, I got it. No problem." He mumbled, embarrassed to be beat at something by a girl. This time he managed to break his record, getting half way across with six whole steps before falling. As he tipped over, Ami stepped forward to do catch his head. Not something she'd done before, but something that was expected of the spotter. It couldn't be so hard, could it? Once in position, she paused, not entirely sure how to go about catching just his head. Dillon was on top of her faster than she'd expected, and both ended up on the ground. Him sitting on her.

"Dillon?" She grunted from her place in the dirt. "Please try not to repeat this, you're heavy for a kid your size!"

"Right!" He leaped from where he had been on Ami's stomach, saluting comically. "I don't weigh _that_ much, you know." He snorted.

Ami rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. "Try sitting on yourself sometime, maybe your opinion will differ."

---

Jeri and Takato were probably the most efficient of the pairs, being the only ones without any major blowouts or incidents. Takato had somehow managed to get himself wedged into a tire about a meter off the ground, but other then that, things were uneventful.

---

Henry was having trouble keeping his temper in check, as his partner Kathy wasn't the brightest lamp in the shop. "You know," She mused quietly to herself, "I bet if I were a supper hero, I could do this easy." Her hands were planted on her hips as she eyed the stumps in front of her. It wasn't that complicated a section.

Henry sighed. Why _me? What did I ever do to deserve this? A partner with the IQ of a carrot. A _pink _carrot! _ "Ok Kathy," He started reasonably, "I understand that you would like to be a super hero, but maybe you could fly down from me and let me try?"

She had to think a moment before responding: 'Ok.' and hopping down.

Henry hadn't even reached the third stump when she shrieked "You're doing it wrong!"

"How can something this simple be done wrong?" He snapped, turning to glare at her.

"You started from the end."

---

Later that day at dinner, Henry was violently squeezing ranch sauce onto his fresh veggies, which reminded him strongly of 'carrot IQ Kathy'.

"Uh... Henry?" Ken started tentatively. "Is there something… I dunno, wrong?"

"Yes!" He snarled. "That stupid… evil… intensely handicapped girl Kathy! I have never met someone so incredibly asinine in my short 15 years of life!" Ken shrank back slightly, slowly putting a piece of celery in his mouth as he leaned away from the wrath emitting from Henry.

"You know," Takato whispered to Ryo as Henry continued to rant at Ken, completely out of character. "I don't think I've ever seen Henry this mad before. Poor Ken, now he has to listen to it."

"On the bright side," Ryo started, "that means he won't notice if I finish the potatoes."

---

"So now what?" Rika asked no one in particular as she sat on her bottom bunk, full of good food and ready for more. The others took little notice. They had finished dinner about ten minutes ago and were back in their tipi, digesting.

"I dunno, we've been given tipi time." Answered Reyna. "Wanna go play soccer in Hector field?"

"NO!" Came the unanimous shriek from Kathy and of course, Sheila. The other girls in the tipi raised their eyebrows and looked up from various books and notebooks to eye the two girls. Ami and Reyna swapped unimpressed eye rolls.

"Why?" Meiko asked. "If you guys don't want to go we'll invite Yamnuska. I need to brush up on my ball handling anyway."

Kathy fell off her lower bunk, her arms waving madly in distress. "Y-you're going to invite them over us?" she leaped to her feet. "You're going to choose them? With that creep Henry? You must be nuts!"

"Whoa!" Kelly called from her bunk, where she was laying on her back with her eyes closed. "Friendly guys, be friendly!"

Jeri cocked her head and turned to Kathy. "He's not bad, Kathy. He's a friend of Rika and I." Rika nodded her agreement, watching for the other girls reaction.

"I agree with Jeri." Annie added in what was quickly becoming her typical quiet voice, "He's kinda-"

"Don't say it!" Sheila cried, cutting Annie off abruptly. Annie looked at her like she needed mental help. "If you admit out loud to thinking he's… you know… which he isn't! I'll have no choice but to play Matchmaker." She'd stated it like a death sentence. Meiko rolled her eyes as Reyna muttered what sounded suspiciously like death threats.

"How can you be so shallow?" Ami asked bluntly. "I really don't think I've ever met anyone so vain about stupid things like this. It's ridiculous."

"Play nice girls." Margo repeated Kelly, a little more of an edge in her voice.

Kathy, who was still standing in front of her bed like she was guarding it leaped to Sheila's defense. "How can you say that!? You act like you've never read the Book!"

"What?" Reyna, Ami, Meiko and Rika chorused.

"The Book!"

"…We really have no idea what you're talking about, so just spit it out." Rika said, exasperation clear.

Kathy turned to Sheila, "Do you have your copy handy?" A small, fluffy, pink and purple book no bigger the Margo's palm landed squarely in Kathy's hands. "Thanks." She added shortly. "The book!" She cried triumphantly, brandishing it in front of the four.

While they were goggling at the thing, Kathy flipped it open and began to read: "It clearly states on page 53, rule number 117 that: If a fellow female is to verbally state that any member of the male species is attractive in the certain terms of cute, huggable, adorable, hot, handsome or dreamy, those present must begin the game of Matchmaker."

Jeri looked at Sheila, amusement written all over her facial features. "So how does this 'matchmaker' thing work? And who in their right mind would follow that book?"

"Apparently them, I guess they aren't in their right mind." Reyna muttered, grinning evilly into her science fiction novel.

"Wait wait," Ami started. "Did that book just use the word 'dreamy' in a serious way?"

Rika made a sound of disgust and looked away. "It did."

Sheila scowled and chose to ignore the peanut gallery. "Kathy and me run some tests, Jeri helps me do an analysis and then I check the chart on page 398 to be sure the celestial alignment is in your favour this month. Make sure I follow all the rules...it's very safe, and totally reliable." The blonde girl smiled, and returned to her magazine from that morning as if nothing had happened.

Annie glanced around the tipi, looking for support. "Well, what do you think I should do?"

"Wait, find out if he really means that much to you. It's been less then 24 hours since you met him. Also, consider who you're working with." Came Meiko, logical as ever.

"I refuse to take any part in this." Reyna said without looking up from her book.

Rika didn't answer, unimpressed as she was with the whole debacle. Ami shook her head. "This is insane Annie. Leave it be." She rolled over onto her stomach and caught sight of Reyna. "Hey Rey, still wanna go kick a ball around?"

"Jeri?" Annie tried, there had to be _some_ advice.

"Well, I dunno…" She trailed off. "I've got Takato, and I think that maybe Rika and Ryo might hook up-" She stopped to make sure no one, especially Sheila had heard her. "- if you trust me, Kathy and Sheila enough, I'd go for it." On the bunk next to Jeri, Reyna head the whole exchange and raised her eyebrows. _I am honestly surprised that Jeri is buying into this_. She thought to herself.

Silence filled the tipi for about five minutes, before… "I, Annie Stelling, currently of the Yahaitinda tipi declare that Henry Wong of the Yamnuska tipi -" Sheila's eyes grew to twice their normal size. "- is cute, friendly, and otherwise fun to be in the company of."

"Noooooo!" Kathy wailed. Outside of the tipi two robins flitted away from the squeal that emitted from the canvas shelter. "Why Annie? Why him?!"

---

That night as the sun began to set on the Canadian Rockies, Camp Chief Hector was assembling for their first All-Camp Campfire. The boys from Yamnuska were no exception, and were making their way over to the large, auditorium-style, brand-spanking-new pebbled and tiered fire pit near the lodge.

"Hey Talon?"

"Yes Henry?"

"Are we sitting by Yahaitinda on purpose?" The campfire was organized by age group. The youngest kids at camp, the Chiniquays, had their own end of camp at Bowfort lodge. Up from them came the Mistayas, who were all organized near the front and bottom of the campfire. Above them the Kananaskins were showing their tween-aged maturity by flicking bits of wood and debris at one another. Behind them came the Pioneers, one tipi group next to another. Unfortunately for Henry, Yamnuska was next to Yahaitinda, which meant he was seated next to Kathy and Sheila.

Talon glanced over and noticed Margo and Kelly for the first time. "Not that I'm aware of, we're here because we're here, why'd you ask?"

Henry sighed. "Well, I'm sitting next to the biggest group of ditz' I've ever known, my friends have abandoned me because they don't want to be any where near the ditz' and I think Tom has gone nuts. Want to trade spots?"

Talon swiveled his head to look at Tom, who was teaching Ben to do something complicated with his hands that involved twisting all his fingers together at once. "Not for all the Pepsi in Banff could you make me do that Henry, not for all the Pepsi in Banff."

"Coke is better." Henry grumbled.

"Campers of Hector!" Jill - the camp director - cried from the stage, "If you can hear me, touch your left ear!" Perhaps half of the camp did as told, the others catching on fast. Jill was a tall, very slim woman with simply woven cotton shirt and a wealth of naturally kinky blonde and brown hair. She spread her skinny arms wide and smiled. "Welcome to your first camp fire! I think we're all in for a great session!"

After the first three minutes, everything passed by uneventfully. Except for the chocolate muffins that were snack, and Henry's violent out burst of mosquito squishing when Sheila's group wouldn't quit giggling, it all went fairly smoothly.

After camp fire ended, 45 minutes later, Sheila narrowed in on her prey. "Hey, Henry!" She smiled, as if she hadn't just been sitting next to him for the duration of the tired to disagree, he stopped and waited until she caught up.

"What?" He asked tiredly.

"Do you like rocks? Trees? Dirt? Nature stuff?" She gazed at him attentively, and innocent smile on her face.

"Wha? What kind of a question is that?" He leaned back, and then backed away, unsure of what exactly she had up her sleeve. "… I like computers." Without another word he turned and made a point of not running, but sauntering back to his group.

"What'd the S.P.F. want?" Kazu asked through a yawn as they walked back to their tipi.

"S.P.F.? I dunno, something about me and nature." Henry shrugged, buttoning up the cuffs of his orange cargo jacket.

The visor-ed boy grinned proudly. "Sugar Plump Fairy, made it up during tipi time."

"Kazu, can I get the reasoning behind the madness tomorrow instead of now?" Henry asked as they entered the tipi.

"Yea, sounds good to - ." When Henry looked over, he saw Kazu lying slack-jawed and asleep on his bottom bunk, still fully clothed; he'd made the mistake of lying down and was asleep as soon as he hit horizontal. Talon shrugged and muttered something that sounded like: 'if he wants to sleep like that, let him'

The other boys shrugged and stripped down before climbing into their sleeping bags.

"G'night guys." Ryo muttered, only about three of his tipi mates answered, mostly with grunts.


End file.
